A BIT LATE - BUT IT'S THE INTERNET'S FAULT
Today's CMU Daily is a bit late because of the increasingly unreliable thing that is the internet. Given that the internet is the future, someone really ought to make it work. Frankly we'd get very depressed by the recent lack of net connection in CMU HQ (yet another "problem at the exchange"), if it wasn't for the fact that we're just too excited because we're all off to see McFly play Wembley tonight. Hurrah!

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CMU FRIDAY TIPS

VIGSY'S CLUB TIP: Big Dada at Tea Bar
It's been a while since Big Dada Recordings threw a party, but now they are in party mood they've chosen the rather odd Tea Bar, on the corner of Bethnal Green Road and Shoreditch High Street, for a free, and rather good sounding bash. Doing their thing will be The Part 2 Soundsystem featuring Juice Aleem (New Flesh) who will be rinsing filthy bass and razor edge melody, Sandra Melody (Diplo Rhythm) and none other than
Lotek Hi-Fi, who will be doing a full live show combining deep, warm and dub drenched rhythms in an uptempo stylee. There will be some very special guests, giveaways, reduced price albums, the launch of Part 2's 'Disposable Graffiti' technique, and lots of musical mishmash. Nuff said.

VIGSY'S LIVE TIP: Matthew Herbert at Barbican
Last year Herbert and his big band, accompanied by Bugge Wessletoft, really rocked the Barbican, and this one sounds just as good. On the Plat De Jour tour Herbert messes with the edge where jazz meets electronica meets, erm, the politics of food. Master chef Heston Blumenthal joins Herbert's band, playing and cooking live on stage, sending sounds and smells into the audience, with the event apparently spilling out exuberantly into the foyer. There'll also be a series of witty films and no doubt some anti-Blair / Thatcher rhetoric. A bit arty, but hopefully not too much - a spectacle to see anyway.

RIAA TARGET MORE FILE-SHARING STUDENTS
Our very favourite American based representative body for major recording companies, the Recording Industry Association Of America, has launched another batch of lawsuits against those almost definitely evil American students who are using the ultra-fast college-based internet2 network to share music files online. This is the third time the RIAA has specifically targeted those illegally sharing music files on campus twice before, and the latest assault brings the number of students targeted up to 560 at 39 different colleges.

The colleges, who are essentially these students' internet service providers, have long been wary of attempts by the RIAA to target individual students with litigation, though they don't want to be seen to be harbouring high level copyright violators on their campuses. The strategy many colleges have used is to work with the likes of Napster to offer students access to legit music platforms, though stats suggest many P2P users continue to access music illegally even when offered access to a Napster style service. Pressure on the colleges to take more proactive action against file sharers among the US student population may, though, be about to increase after two US senators recently called on the Government Accountability Office to investigate the levels of university anti-piracy controls in place.

The latest round of college targeted litigation was part of 757 new lawsuits launched by the RIAA this week. Other lawsuits were targeted at individuals suspected of sharing large amounts of copyrighted music via the likes of eDonkey, Grokster, Kazaa and LimeWire.

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CANADIAN INDUSTRY LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT COPYRIGHT LAW REVAMP
Talking of legislators getting involved in the battle against illegal file sharing, the Canadian music industry has launched a campaign to bolster support for plans to change the country's copyright law in a bid to make it clearer that swapping copyrighted music via P2P platforms is illegal.

Under the somewhat sinister sounding title of 'Products Of The Mind', the campaign launches with a report from the Canadian Recording Industry Association setting out how big a problem illegal file sharing is in Canada. They reckon that for every digital track bought via a legal platform like iTunes, 14 more are obtained by a P2P like Kazaa.

The high level of illegal filesharing in the country, industry execs argue, is because the Canadian courts have been less than helpful in supporting legal efforts to prosecute individuals who illegally share music online, unlike their counterparts in the US and UK judicial system. But some Canadian judges argue that the problem lies not with their rulings, but with the outdated laws on which they have to based their decisions - hence the move to have the country's copyright legislation overhauled.

Not everyone in Canada supports the proposed revamps, arguing that the new law would satisfy special-interest groups but not protect wider public interest.

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FUGEES ANNOUNCE UK DATES
Now this is exciting (almost as exciting as us going to see McFly play live tonight). The Fugees have announced details of two UK gig dates for December this year. Tickets went on sale at 9am this morning, so if you want to go you better get on the case and book em. The dates are:

HMV SELL OUT AUSSIE STORES
The HMV Group is getting out of Australia pronto by selling its 32 store mini-empire there to a company called Brazin Ltd. That said, the new owners plan to keep those stores branded as HMV for the time being, so the punter on the (Aussie) street is unlikely to notice.

The $4 million deal sees Brazin extend its grip on music retail in Australia - they already own the Sanity and Virgin music chains in the country.

Confirming the deal, Brazin boss Greg Milne told reporters: "HMV are experts at running large footprint entertainment stores and we look forward to having HMV management complementing the skills of Sanity/Virgin." HMV's commercial director, Peter Smith, will stay on to help integrate the business into the Brazin empire.

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BON JOVI TO PLAY FIRST CONCERT AT THE NEW WEMBLEY
It looks likely that Bon Jovi will be the first band to play at London's Wembley Stadium when it reopens next year following a major renovation. The US rockers were the last band to play at the stadium before it closed for the rebuild. Assuming the current schedule for reopening the venue is met (which, admittedly, might be a mad assumption to make), Bon Jovi will take to its stage once more on 11 Jun next year for the first rock concert to be held at the new stadium.

Confirming those plans, Jon Bon Jovi told reporters yesterday: "Returning to open the new Wembley is a great honour. The old stadium was magical and holds a lot of special memories for us. The band and I are looking forward to performing and creating new memories with our fans for the future. It's going to be an incredible night."

Talking of Wembley - did we mention that McFly are playing the Wembley Pavilion tonight? It's all very exciting...

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ONLINE MTV VMA COVERAGE GOES INTO OVERDRIVE
MTV have been bragging about how many people have been to their VMAs website. As previously reported, MTV carried a lot of extra footage from their flagship awards event online, via their new broadband platform MTV Overdrive. The network says that the site received 13 million streams within a month of being live, with 45 million page views the day after the awards. Well done them.

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JOHNNY CASH MUSICAL HEADS FOR BROADWAY
Well, thank goodness for that, yet another musical based on the oeuvre of a contemporary (if late) musician. A musical featuring the songs of the legend that is Johnny Cash has previewed in Buffalo, New York, to favourable reviews, and is expected to transfer to Broadway next year. A reviewer from the Toronto Star said: "There's no cliched stage biography here, nor is there an artificially constructed story trying to string it all together". Crikey. It's a miracle.

The show, 'Ring Of Fire', features around 35 of Cash's songs, but no actor portrays the country star, which is probably a good thing, given the dire reception received by that John Lennon musical in which several different actors played the Beatle at different stages in his life. Explaining why no actor had been cast as Cash, Tony award winning director Richard Maltby said: "The persona, the voice, are unduplicatable, [is that a word?] and the very best we could achieve would be a poor imitation."

Maltby added that Cash had given approval for this project before his death in 2003, having already rejected several other similar projects. A film of Johnny Cash's life 'Walk The Line', starring Joaquin Phoenix, is currently in production.

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DYLAN IN TALKS OVER SECOND DOCUMENTARY
Talking of films about the lives of music legends, Bob Dylan is apparently in talks to create a sequel to Martin Scorsese's 'No Direction Home' documentary, which aired in the UK earlier in the week. The two part documentary (as you'll all know, because I'm sure you all watched it) covered Dylan's career up until 1966, but now the film's producer, Susan Lacy has indicated that a second film is in the pipeline.

In a web chat with Dylan fans she spoke of a follow up, saying "We are having preliminary discussions about that. We are researching that right now. There's not as much material and it's not as dense as the material we had from the sixties. There are big gaps in it."

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THOM YORKE DITHERS OVER WHETHER TO MEET BLAIR
Thom Yorke has uploaded a post on the Radiohead website in which he reveals that campaigners Friends Of The Earth have asked him to meet with Tony Blair on their behalf to discuss climate change. Yorke has previously visited the Houses Of Parliament on behalf of the organisation.

He writes: "Friends of the Earth have asked me whether I would meet Tony Blair at Downing Street to discuss what our government is not doing about climate change. I don't know if this will ever happen for certain.... it is rattling around in the back of my mind and concerns me a lot. I have no intention of being used by spider spin doctors to make it look like we make progress when it is just words. I'd love to know what you think but I can't ask. You'd say 'oh there he goes again interfering and meddling in politics - why doesn't he get on with the music and shut up?' Perhaps because I feel like a hypocrite if don't do anything, and equally feel like a hypocrite if I try getting involved."

It's fair enough. I think I'd probably feel that way too. Anyway, Yorke then had a direct pop at the prime minister: "Blair has been uttering nonsense lately about Kyoto and such, real la la stuff... looks like the American right have finally eaten his mind... blah blah. Why on earth would I meet this man? Or perhaps that is exactly why I should. But I don't have powers of persuasion; I just have temper and an acid tongue."

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INFINITY CONFIRM POST-STERN PLANS
US radio empire Infinity have revealed how it plans to replace iconic DJ Howard Stern when he finally quits their much syndicated morning show to go over to satellite radio station Sirius later this year. Despite rumours comedian Jon Stewart and actress Whoopi Goldberg were being considered to take over the slot, the radio company now says it will launch a new show involving five or six presenters. After about a year those presenters that have won a popular following will be kept on to develop a new show that, bosses hope, will win a similar sized audience to Stern without being dependent on one expensive celeb.

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AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT PUT BACK ANALOGUE SWITCH OFF
More Australian based industry news for you. The Aussie government is having to rethink its plans for closing down analogue TV broadcasts after figures showed take up of digital TV services is low. Government types hoped to start turning off analogue signals in urban areas in the next three years, with a country-wide switch-over achieved by 2011. However, while 85% of the population is covered by digital terrestrial TV, and 95% has access to one or another digital service, market penetration still stands at just 10%. The country's Communications Minister, Helen Coonan, admitted: "Given the current level of digital take-up, an analogue switch-off date of 2008 in metropolitan areas seems unachievable. We need a Digital Action Plan to drive digital take-up and a plan for the transition to the point where Australia will be ready to end the expensive simulcast period."

As previously reported, the UK government has similar timescale ambitions to switch off analogue TV signals. There is a much higher number of households receiving digital TV over here which on one level makes the British government's plan's more realistic - although, as we might have pointed out once or twice before, that doesn't account for the number of households receiving digital TV on their main set, but still accessing analogue signals on second or third portable tellys.

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ALBARN ON NEW BLUR ALBUM
Damon Albarn has been talking about the new Blur album, and the effect that the departure of Graham Coxon will have on the album's sound. The follow up to 'Think Tank' will be recorded without the input of an additional guitarist, with Albarn himself taking over strumming duties.

Albarn said: "There is a Blur record at the moment but it's very basic. The reason why it's so basic is we decided that if we're going to make another record it's just got to be the three of us and I've got to play guitar. And because I'm such a rudimentary guitarist it has to be really stupid and basic punk rock."

Albarn is also working on a solo album. He said: "I'm halfway through a record that I started in Nigeria last year. I suppose it will end up being my first solo record, although I hate the term 'solo record'."

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JACKSON TO RE-LAUNCH CAREER IN BLIGHTY
Michael Jackson must have heard about that Sony Ericcson poll we reported on yesterday in which UK respondents put no less than seven Jacko songs in the top ten best songs ever. Because according to reports, he's planning to re-launch his career with the release of that Hurricane Katrina benefit track in London.

A 'source' told The Sun: "Michael wants to release it within the next fortnight. He can't wait to visit London. He's always had incredible support from fans in England and admires the top producers there."

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EURYTHMICS RE-RELEASE DATES SET
Confirmation for you of the release dates for those previously reported Eurythmics re-releases and greatest hits type things. The new single 'I've Got A Life' will be out 31 Oct, the 'Ultimate Collection' album on 7 Nov and the re-release of those classic albums re-mastered on 14 Nov. Sorted. Press info from Noble PR.

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THE CRUNK STAR VS. LARRY FLYNT
Crunk star Lil Jon is bringing a lawsuit against Larry Flynt Productions and is seeking $30m in damages, after his name and likeness appeared in a porn flick produced by Flynt's Hustler Video, who allegedly lifted footage from a 2004 Lil Jon gig in New Orleans to use in the film without the permission of the star or his label. The film, 'Phat Tuesday', is about five women attending Mardi Gras attending the Lil Jon gig, and of course, having sex with variety of men, as well as each other. His likeness and the words 'Featuring Lil John, King Of Crunk' also appear on the movie's artwork.

Of course, it's not moral outrage that's got Lil Jon all litigious. His claim states that he's been deprived of royalties, revenue and reputation, but, more importantly, he says he now can't release his own porn DVD 'Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz: Vivid Vegas Party', because it bears too many similarities to the Hustler film.

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R KELLY FACING MORE LEGAL TROUBLE
Oh dear. More litigation, and this time it's R Kelly. Again. This time he's being sued by New York rapper Cam'ron, real name Cameron Giles, who says that the singer has infringed his copyright and taken sole credit for a song that they wrote together. Giles alleges that the pair worked together on the 'Snake Remix', but that he was not credited when it was released as part of video collection 'R. Kelly: The R in R&B'.

Cam'ron's representative claims, however, that it's just a business decision, and that the pair are friends, explaining that the rapper had originally expected Kelly to return the favour by working on a track for his 'Purple Haze' album, a favour which never came off. She says that an earlier period of ill feeling between the two is now resolved, despite the lawsuit. R Kelly's man, meanwhile, says "It's a very small dispute that seems to have gotten out of hand. We expect it to be resolved shortly."

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MORE SHAMBLING BY DOHERTY SHOCKER
More news from the Babyshambles tour. If Pete Doherty getting pissed up and throwing things at photographers can be considered 'new'. Anyway, Doherty, quelle surprise, spent the day prior to the Newcastle gig crawling the city's pubs wearing odd shoes, drinking a lot of whisky and throwing ice at photographers who tried to take his picture. By the time he got to Northumbria University where the concert was to take place, he could apparently barely stand up, and fell into a drum kit.

Not content with that, he went on to scare everyone by collapsing on stage; fans waiting to meet him were ushered away by security guards, probably sparking fears that he might be dead. Shortly thereafter, however, he came round and made it back on to the tour bus alive, but staggering a bit.

Ah well. At least the visual image of Doherty falling into a drum kit has made me laugh out loud for a period of about four minutes, thus enlivening my potentially dull Friday (well, dull until I get to the McFly concert, that is - there'll be no shoddy performances there, of that I'm sure). Those of you with limited visual imaging skills can check out the Babyshambles sitcom at the following locations:

COWELL UPSETS THE LOCALS
According to the Daily Star, Simon Cowell has apparently got on the wrong side of some rather easily angered locals. The X factor judge is currently filming the 'boot camp' section of the TV talent show at Bayham Hall, near Tunbridge Wells, and local villagers became offended because he parked his limo outside the stately home. So offended were they, in fact, that Cowell had the gall to park his car there that they plastered 'get out of town' notes all over the windscreen.

A source told the tabloid: "It's a small community around Bayham Hall and they like things done their way. They didn't like seeing this car parked day in and day out on the drive. They had no idea it was Simon Cowell's motor - not that it would have stopped them."

Well, that'll teach him. Let's hope next time he remembers to hide it somewhere. Round the back, perhaps.

Anyway, enough of this, we've got to get ready to go to that McFly concert. See you Monday, assuming the entire internet doesn't die this weekend. Which, frankly, it might.